Thin Client

New POS System Plugs Into Cloud Computing Environments; Increases Retailer Margins Compared to Traditional Systems

Burlington, ON and San Jose, CA - January 6, 2010 - Everyone is talking virtualization, and more and more companies are seeing the value of using a cloud computing or virtualized environment to reduce operating expenses, increase data security, and reduce power requirements. Until now, however, retailers considering virtualization would have to omit POS systems from the strategy as no major provider offered a cloud or virtualization-ready POS system that can run today's advanced POS applications.

Now Wyse Technology and Pippard Inc. have come together to create a POS system that is designed and optimized for these environments. The Pippard MRT-WCR™ includes the traditional POS system display, cash drawer, receipt printer and scanner, but its heart is based on a new Wyse virtual client processor combined with a Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 2009 operating system.
· The Wyse component is unique in the market, offering hardware support for advanced multimedia and video, enabling easier to use and more impactful POS applications.

· It also uses solid state storage rather than a hard disk to store local operating software, significantly increasing the reliability.

· Windows Embedded Standard 2009 delivers peripheral connectivity and enterprise class manageability.

"We are very excited about the availability of a POS register powered by a Wyse virtual client," says Gene Bonacci, Vice President, Global Strategic Sales at Wyse Technology. "Wyse has long provided solutions to the retail industry, but this is our first real thrust into POS. Wyse thin and zero clients at POS along with Wyse Device Manager (WDM) and Wyse Streaming Manager (WSM) extends the value proposition retailers already enjoy from Wyse, all the way out to the front of the store."

The system will be available in January 2010 directly from Pippard and through distribution in mid-2010. The system will be available as a thin client targeted at the specialty retail market and as a zero client with Wyse Streaming Manager targeted at the large format retailer with greater than 6 registers per store.

"Development of the MRT-WCR was a natural progression of the POS virtualization work Pippard has been doing over the past year to deliver quality POS hardware at a lower price point," says Don Gibson, VP Sales and Marketing at Pippard Inc. "Traditional POS providers are still stuck in the old paradigm of how POS is supposed to work. As our efforts over the past year have shown, there are tremendous economies that can be achieved by bringing virtualization to POS and when it came time to find a partner to achieve our end objective, the choice was easy. Wyse is the hands down leader in the thin computing space and the natural choice for a virtual POS register."

"Microsoft is pleased to be working with Wyse and Pippard to deploy Windows Embedded Standard 2009 on high-performance thin clients," said Ashwin Kulkarni, Senior Product Manager for Windows Embedded at Microsoft Corp. "With Windows Embedded, Wyse and Pippard are helping retailers in today’s competitive marketplace by delivering seamless connectivity and immersive experiences at a lower total cost of ownership.”

This approach connects directly to cloud computing, virtualization and streaming software technologies delivered by Citrix, Microsoft, VMware and Wyse today, and provides several benefits:
· Highly secure - no data is stored on the POS system, so no data is lost or exposed in the case of damage or theft of the system.

· Increased margins - through lower operating costs

o Lower energy costs - The ENERGYSTAR certified Wyse client consumes less than 7 watts of electricity in full operation – the same amount of energy consumed as a typical holiday tree light bulb, and typically 85 percent less than PC-based products.

o Simplifies and reduces IT costs, via central management, reducing or eliminating the need to ever visit the system to perform maintenance, upgrades, and diagnostics

· Reliable – operation continues even in the case of network failure

· POS resiliency – a solid state disk drive option provides for remotely managed, local virtualized POS transaction storage in the event of loss of communications with central server

· Flexible - seasonal traffic increases can be easily handled by simply connecting additional units to the in-store network

"A truly exciting innovation", says Peter Edwards, VP Sales and Marketing at Millenium Retail Solutions, a premier retail software business partner. "Virtualization is changing the way computing is done and it was only a matter of time before someone figured out how to apply it to POS. The thin client version of our "In the Black" Retail Suite was specifically designed with cloud computing in mind and now we have hardware designed with the same philosophy. We definitely recommend that retailers take a good look at this exciting new POS offering. We will certainly be talking to all of our customers about it."

About Pippard Inc.
Pippard Inc. is a POS hardware manufacturer, systems integrator and service provider that has been delivering POS solutions to retailers since 1991. By combining unique hardware design, a perfected warranty and a seasoned level 1 help desk, Pippard reduces POS lifecycle TCO by 25-30% over traditional POS systems. With thousands of registers installed throughout North America and newly installed international customers over an 18 year period, Pippard has never required a technician be on site to perform an install, upgrade or regular maintenance.

For more information, visit the Pippard website at http://www.pippard.com or call (905) 335-5303 Ext 237.

About Wyse Technology
Wyse Technology is the global leader in thin computing-based virtualization software and hardware solutions. Wyse and its strategic partners, including, Citrix, CSC, IBM, Lenovo, Microsoft, Novell, VMware and others deliver the most innovative hardware, software, and services that optimize the benefits of cloud computing, virtualization and green IT. These thin computing solutions allow consumers, SMEs and large public and private enterprises to access high definition voice, data and video content they need, with optimized security, manageability, and user experience at a much lower total cost of ownership than other traditional end user devices, including PCs. Wyse has the largest global distribution network in the thin computing market through its partners and offices worldwide. Wyse was founded in 1981, and it is headquartered in San Jose, California, USA.

For more information, visit the Wyse website at http://www.wyse.com or call 1-800-GET-WYSE

* All brands and names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective holders.